Nice tree! Can you post a picture of the whole thing? If I understand you correctly, you grew it from seed, right? Nice job either way. I think it can take as many as 10+ years for a seed grown lemon to produce fruit, but I'm not sure. Others here can help you better than I can on that issue.

No reason to let that little sprout grow. It would never bloom.

Yeah, you might have a few years to wait before your lemon blooms yet. Once it blooms it may or may not be able to hold fruit, but you can hope anyway!

Don't trim back the top of your tree because that is likely where blooms will form first.

If it is a seedling, that can't be a sucker; but if it were mine, I would just rub it off at this stage. such a small and low sprout would likely just be a distraction.

Yes it is from seed. Due to the cold weathers here in Pittsburgh where it can get below 0°F for a few days at a time I have to bring this indoors over the winter. Unfortunately the ceiling is only 7 foot tall in my basement and I had to trim off 6 inches in October for it to fit. In early March it grew back those 6 inches that I trimmed in October but when I was bringing it indoors I accidentally hit the ceiling and it cracked off That new growth. About three years ago I had to trim off a sucker which I think I may have let grow too long because it ended up getting to be about 18 inches tall and about the thickness of a pencil. I think this sucker that I have posted a picture of I will try to cut off with a sterile blade as soon as possible. Sorry for the low light picture but there's a storm coming through right now. Many people of asked why I keep half of that planter tucked underneath that picnic bench...well it helps it from tipping over when the winds kick up. Last month was the first time I ever put citrus fertilizer in the soil ( other than what is already mixed in with the citrus Miracle Grow soil that I have used for the past 3 to 4 years). And I have noticed within the past week there are many new leaves and many new shoots coming from the middle of the main tree stem.

Can you graft?

your best chances would come from grafting a bud from the top to the base and cutting the top off, basically starting over.

Its all about "node count" (google that term)

really you need someone to send you a budstick. You might not ever get to the magic bud count in a pot in the north.

I've never had any experience grafting. I have also heard that it could kill the plant because of how big of a cut I would need to make.

Bob, I would listen to pip. Grafting is done routinely for citrus and should not hurt your tree at all. I don't know how to graft myself, but do know there are different ways to graft, some less "invasive" than others. You may be able to get some branches from a fruiting tree and graft it to yours without removing the other branches - perhaps only the one that you will graft to. I can send you budwood if you would like to try. I have been considering trimming my big meyer lemon and would be happy to send you the branches I cut for you to experiment with.

Laura that is a good idea. I don't want to graft to the main stem where grafting is normally done at a young age. Instead I think grafting to a few strong branches would be ok. Although what are the risks with disease and bacteria spreading. I don't want to kill this plant since I have 6 years into it. I'll reach out if I make a decision on your offer though. Thanks.

It would be a lot easier to root a cutting from the top-most growth (after growth has hardened in July or August) rather than attempting a graft. Use this year's growth that has hardened after leaves are mature. Grafting takes the right tools and a fair amount of skill. It's quite easy to root lemons from cuttings in baggies on your window sill. Still takes some knowledge, but generally easier.

Rooting lemon should take maybe 6 to 8 weeks. Then you are more likely to get your plant to bloom and have it still fit in your home.

Your main plant can continually supply you with cuttings until you get one to root if you fail the first time.

Or you can try both: graft a branch and root cuttings.

Vladimir and Dave those are two excellent ideas I never thought of. I've had great success rooting other plants (i.e. Peppers) in the past. For now I'll wait for some new top growth and let it mature. Cut it off in August and begin to root during the fall.

So can someone explain to me why grafting a branch from the same tree onto itself would help it bud sooner? Dave, when you mean rooting, do you mean from a branch from his tree, or one we would send him?

Every new bud has a higher node count number, a tree won't flower until it reaches its number. If you cut the top off and new buds grow from the lower node counts the tree will forget what number it was at. And start going up from the lower number basically starting over at that point. So topping the tree isn't good. But if you graft that high node count bud down low it will remember its node number and keep going up.

at least that is the theory that is generally accepted

Pip so what you saying is that I could eventually get buds to form from my plant without grafts from a different plant by grafting high top nodes to lower branches.

I believe that theory is correct. But I do wonder about some things.

I have a lemon tree grown from seed that flowered several times at fairly low node counts. It's never gone to full bloom, but I get the odd few blooms in the spring. Im thinking that it could be more stress related since its treated pretty badly over the winter.

Dave I understand much better now with that diagram. Until I move to a larger house (next year-ish) my lemon tree will have to stay below 7ft. Although any top branches that I must trim off I will root them over winter and allow them to grow tall (encourage vertical growth). I may even try experimenting grafting them into a lower branch. Unfortunately I don't see myself moving to a warmer climate anytime soon, therefore this plant will have to stay in its planter and spend its winters indoors.

Dave that is a GREAT explanation! I finally understand the issue. As I have some seed grown trees, I will utilize that method and it may give me a good excuse to learn grafting. Thank you!

Thanks Laura, I updated the illustration to make a point that any side shoots that reach the magical node count (whatever it is for that variety) are able to bloom as well. I'm sure it's more complicated than this, and there are other factors involved such as plant hormones, perhaps the effect of different rootstocks, etc. But this is what I understand to be generally true, according to Prof. Malcolm Manners who used to post here. Sure miss his posts.